Vegas Golden Knights: Brutal first period (again), other takeaways

1. First period woes

Just what is going on with the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period right now?!

In the last three games the Knights have dug themselves one big hole to try and claw their way out of, which they have only done once by the way.

That was against the St. Louis Blues but, as we’ve said time and time again, that was more the exception than the rule.

And it was proven against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday when Vegas failed to recover from giving their opponents a two-goal headstart.

But the worst was yet to come. And, unfortunately, we saw it on full ugly display against the LA Kings on Thursday.

Being outshot 18-10, the Knights were eventually breached when Alec Martinez drilled a slap shot beyond Malcolm Subban, which was the first of four unanswered goals at the end of the first period.

Subban was largely exposed as he was screened on the first three goals, while he was beaten with a rebound on the fourth.

In total, the Golden Knights have been outscored 9-0 in the last three first periods, which is just incredible.

Because this has only emerged as a recent trend, it is hard to pinpoint exactly why Vegas is struggling in the opening 20-minutes of games.

It was also the fifth straight game that the Knights have allowed the first goal, so the sample size is worryingly large.

One thing is for certain, though, and that is the fact that you can’t expect to win hockey games when spotting teams a large lead in the first period.

Granted, it is incredibly hard to put in maximum effort for the full 60-minutes, but you have no to little chance when you dig yourselves a big hole in the first period.

Head Coach Gerard Gallant called the effort in the first period “embarrassing”, and he’s right, it was an absolute stinker of a period from the Knights.

They have given up 15 first period goals during this current homestand, and it is even more perplexing when you consider that Vegas is 16-7 when it comes to outscoring the opponents in the remainder of the games.

So, while there is no clear answer as to why the Vegas Golden Knights are struggling in first periods of games, the coaching staff best find one soon otherwise they will find it hard to keep their grip on the Pacific Division.

2. Can we have some help please?

This is hardly a new trend but the Vegas Golden Knights don’t get enough production outside of their potent top six forward unit.

In the last two games, the bottom six have failed to provide secondary scoring and that was evident yet again against the LA Kings on Thursday.

Despite unleashing 46 pucks on Jack Campbell’s goal, the Knights only had two goals to show for their efforts.

And both of those goals came from top six forwards in Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith, who have been on absolute tears all year long.

But, when you put 46 shots on goal against a rebuilding team, you should really be coming out with a win.

However, the Knights have suffered from a severe lack of secondary scoring all year long and production from the third line is almost non-existent.

The third line featuring Chandler Stephenson, Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch recorded just four shots on goal between them, while the fourth line also registered four shots on goal.

With William Karlsson going through a mini-slump at the moment and Jonathan Marchessault out of the lineup due to injury, the Knights need other players to step up to the plate and produce.

Instead, it is largely being left to the second line to generate offense and one or two lines providing all the firepower isn’t a recipe for success.

3. Knights need to be active at Trade Deadline

We’re rapidly approaching the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis and, once that is over, all eyes will then be focused on the Trade Deadline.

That is when things get interesting because teams who have failed to meet expectations this year will admit defeat and sell off assets, while contenders will be dipping their toes into the water to try and bolster their roster ahead of the postseason.

The Golden Knights will be in the latter category and it is expected that they will be very active at the Trade Deadline.

They will have to shift some contracts off the books first given that they have less than $1 million in cap space available, and expect the likes of Cody Eakin and Nick Holden to be shopped due to their respective cap hits.

Once the Knights have created some breathing room under the cap, expect them to look for help in two areas: secondary scoring and on the blueline.

Both were exposed against the LA Kings on Thursday and I’m sure the Golden Knights would love to add a third-line scoring winger, in addition to a puck-moving defenseman that can help with the transition game.

We have already done a piece on why New York Rangers blueliner Tony DeAngelo would tick all the boxes for Vegas, while we will be doing something on what trades would make sense.

However, what the ugly loss to the Kings taught us was that this roster, as talented as it is, is still flawed and they are going to need to address certain weaknesses if they are to go deep in the playoffs.

And, if they don’t, then they run the danger of being edged in a best of seven series and going out in the First Round for the second consecutive year.